Boston - A lawyer for Louise Woodward, the British au pair convicted of killing a baby in her care, says the rest of the defence team "made a mistake" by holding back evidence that could have implicated the baby's young brother.
In an interview published in Lawyers' Weekly, Mr Harvey Silverglate said that if he were to try the case again, he probably would present evidence pointing to someone other than Ms Woodward in the death of eight-month-old Matthew Eappen. He would not detail this evidence, but said: "The issue of whether the older brother is well-behaved or not, that's relevant," referring to the baby's brother, Brendan, who was 2 1/2 at the time of Matthew's death.
Ms Woodward, of Chester, was convicted of second-degree murder in Matthew's death. A judge later reduced the verdict to manslaughter.
The Eappens' lawyer, Mr Frederic Ellis, said Mr Silverglate's comments were "totally improper". "The Eappen family has suffered enough," Mr Ellis said. "It's totally ridiculous to think [Brendan] repeatedly shook and inflicted a violent blow to Matty. It wasn't Brendan; it was Louise Woodward."